Apple Tablet Would Change Game

Milestones at Apple Computer over the last decade certainly suggest the computer giant owned the decennium. Amazon wrapped the decade on a high with the retail monster’s founder and chief executive braying “we are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history.” Jeff Bezos must realize Amazon loses money on Kindle and new book release sales and profits little on older titles. That was 2009.

Hilarious yet perplexing are YouTube videos speculating an Apple Tablet. The iPod innovator is expected, as it were gospel, to introduce a tablet reader personal information entertainment device. GIZMODO created an “exhaustive guide” to rumors about an Apple tablet.

Bloomberg.com regurgitates a report from once Google executive Lee Kai fu’s blog purporting Apple expects to ship ten-million tablets in 2010. The finance community is abuzz regarding an Apple tablet yet to be officially announced.

What does it mean to media and broadcasters? Over the next few weeks Broadcast Newsroom Computing will post reports on predictions for the year and decade ahead. The cliché “interesting times” lives. These are times for genuine new thinking to manage new technology and to profit. An Apple tablet, anything like gossip indicates, is a game changer.

Content publishers would expect friendlier revenue sharing terms from an Apple model than Google’s split on eBooks. Magazines look to win big with a mobile platform to present creatively produced, new, engaging and long lasting interactive content. Maybe even a new advertising medium. Several types of media and revenue opportunities are paraded in the example of Apple tablet Sports Illustrated presents. Watch it and think about the future of video production and consumption.